Types of Arrhythmia You Should Be Aware Of

Arrhythmia means abnormal or irregular heartbeat. A cardiologist in Singapore will tell you that arrhythmia is normal when it occurs due to the heart’s regular processes.

Normal Heartbeat

To check if your heartbeat is within normal range, remember that adults in rest usually have 60 to 100 beats per minute. Check your pulse by placing your index and third fingers on the wrist or at the side of your windpipe. Count the number of beats in 15 seconds while checking the clock or timer. Then multiply the number of heartbeats by 4 to get the beats per minute.

Newborns have a heart rate between 95 to 160, while a one-year-old usually has 90 to 150 beats. Older children aged 6 to 8 years will have lower heartbeat ranging from 60 to 110.

It’s normal to go over 100 beats per minute when you are active. You should be worried when your heartbeat is consistently above 100 even when you are at rest or if you are not a professional athlete. Consult the best cardiologist nearest you when you see these symptoms.

Abnormal Heartbeat

There are a lot of things that can cause abnormal heartbeat besides seeing your crush in the office. When you www.harleystreet.sg/blog/heart-health-get-screened-by-a-good-cardiologist-in-singapore/ factors such as caffeine intake, smoking, consumption of alcoholic beverages, intake of cold and cough medications, prescription of psychotropic drugs for mental illnesses, prescribed appetite suppressants, Beta-blockers for people with hypertension, the use of anti-arrhythmics, and dangerous drugs abuse can all cause abnormal or irregular heartbeats.

The following factors can also influence the number of beats per minute: temperature of the surroundings, your fitness level, the activities you have performed before you took your pulse, your body size, the medications you take everyday including vitamin supplements, your emotions, and your body’s position while taking the pulse. During a heart screening, it’s not unusual for your cardiologist in Singapore to take your blood pressure while you’re standing, sitting and lying down.

Causes of Arrhythmia

Arrhythmia happens when the electrical signals to your heart don’t work in perfect harmony with the body’s needs. The symptoms are not so obvious, but if you experience the following on more days than usual, you should seek help from a Singapore cardiologist: sudden weakness, dizziness and breathlessness, feeling of fainting or actual fainting, lightheadedness and a fluttering in the chest.

Arrhythmia is caused by many issues and lifestyle habits such as high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, taking of supplements or herbal products, side effect of medications, smoking and drinking alcoholic beverages, drug abuse, too much caffeine, hyperthyroidism, excessive stress, and heart scarring from patients who have had a heart attack. The heart doctor will recommend heart screening tests to determine the best treatment.

A heart surgeon might perform surgical procedures for pre-existing conditions like damaged valves. If you have coronary artery disease for example, the heart surgeon will recommend an artery bypass grafting.

Types of Arrhythmia

Arrhythmia is classified into 4 types. These are bradycardia or slow heart beat, irregular or extra heartbeats, tachycardia or fast hearbeat, and ventricular arrhythmia.

1. Bradycardia. Called bradyarrhythmias, it refers to the condition characterized by slow heart rate. Most people who experience this do not get enough blood to their brains that is why they have fainting spells. Those who have had heart attacks, are taking Beta blockers, calcium channel blockers and anti-arrhythmia medication, have blood chemical imbalance such as low potassium levels, and thyroid problems are all at risk of bradycardia. The cardiologist might recommend a pacemaker or prescribe different medication.

2. Irregular or Extra Heartbeats. Sometimes called premature beats, it is the most common and is mostly harmless. You are recommended, however, to go to the nearest heart doctor in Singapore if it happens more than usual. Premature beats can be caused by pre-existing heart illnesses, excessive stress, excessive exercise, and taking too much nicotine or caffeine. There are two types of irregular heartbeats.

Premature atrial contractions (PACs) happen in the atria or the heart’s upper chambers. Premature ventricular contractions (PVCs) occur in the ventricles or lower chambers of the heart.

3. Ventricular Arrhythmia. Ventricular tachycardia, also called ventricular arrhythmia, begins in the heart’s ventricles. There are 2 types of ventricular arrhythmia.

Ventricular tachycardia is a condition characterized by a fast, regular beat in the ventricles. The episode can happen for a few seconds and sometimes lasts longer. Ventricular fibrillation is the quivering of the ventricles caused by a faulty electrical signal. This can cause cardiac arrest in some patients in Singapore. The doctor will recommend an electric shock to treat it after a heart screening. The cardiologist associates this condition with weakened hearts caused by pre-existing conditions.

4. Supraventricular Tachycardia. Also called supraventricular arrhythmias, it happens when fast heart rates occur in the atria or atrioventricular node of the heart. Tachycardia means fast heartbeat, while the atrioventricular node is the name for the group of cells between the atria and the ventricles. There are three types of supraventricular tachycardia.

Atrial fibrillation is characterized by an irregular and fast contraction of the atria. The electrical signals to the heart travel abnormally from either the pulmonary veins or a part of the atria. The atria walls fibrillate or quiver very fast. It can lead to heart failure because there isn’t enough blood or causes stroke because of the blood clots. Atrial flutter has the same symptoms as atrial fibrillation but the signals spread in the atria are in fast and regular pace.

Paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia is characterized by an abnormally fast heart rate that occurs suddenly in a short period of time. It begins and stops abruptly with the signal traveling from the atria to the ventricles and then reentering the atria again. The result is that there are extra heartbeats caused by the problems in electrical connection that occurs between the chambers of the heart. One type of this arrhythmia is called the Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome which causes the electrical signal in the heart to travel in an extra path.